4 in 10 New Jerseyans still undecided on Gov. Murphy

NEW BRUNSWICK — A new Rutgers-Eagleton poll finds 42 percent of state residents are undecided on Gov. Phil Murphy, and 29 percent say they don't have an opinion on his overall performance as governor.

Respondents were still optimistic about his job performance, with 43 percent approving and 28 percent disapproving.

Poll Director Ashley Koning said residents are more passionate about specific issues than they are about how Murphy is doing as governor, and that their opinions fell in line with their political affiliation.

"So a lot of these individual issues boil down to either partisanship, or simply that a feeling in terms of a change in party leadership is going to spur some sort of substantive change."

Murphy got his highest marks in education and the economy, with 44 percent of respondents approving of his performance in both categories.

He did not do as well on tax policy, with only 28 percent approving.

"It's no surprise that we see Murphy score much lower on those issues than he does on others," said Koning.